Princess Cruises’ New Sky Princess to Debut in Mediterranean

Princess Cruises has announced that its fourth Royal-class ship will be named Sky Princess. Sister ship to Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess, Sky Princess is scheduled to debut in October 2019 on a series of Mediterranean voyages.

The 143,700 ton, 3,660-passenger vessel will be an evolution of the design platform used for previous Royal-class ships, the cruise line said. Sky Princess will include signature Princess brand elements, as well as a number of popular features from previous Royal-class ships – Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess. Highlights will include a soaring central Piazza-style atrium, Princess Live! entertainment venue, the relaxing adults-only Sanctuary, Camp Discovery youth and teen centers, and a wide variety of guest-favorite dining venues including the Salty Dog Grill, Alfredo's Pizzeria, Vines Wine Bar, Chef's Table Lumiere, and World Fresh Marketplace, with updated décor and design throughout the ship. Sky Princess will also have the outdoor "Movies Under the Stars" theater, and 80 percent of all staterooms will have balconies.

Princess said some new features of the ship will be announced in the coming months.

"Sky Princess continues a Princess Cruises legacy and honors one of our previous ships," said Jan Swartz, group president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, in a written release. "When Princess merged with Sitmar Cruises in 1988, Sky Princess joined our fleet and sailed with us for 12 years. Now more than 30 years later, a new Sky Princess will join the fleet featuring our modern design platform and contemporary innovations offered to exceed our guests' expectations."

The inaugural Mediterranean deployment of Sky Princess includes 10 cruise departures on eight unique itineraries. First up, is a seven-day Mediterranean & Adriatic cruise from Athens (Piraeus) to Barcelona departing on October 20, 2019. This voyage is combinable with a seven-day Mediterranean Barcelona to Rome (Civitavecchia) voyage for a 14-day Inaugural Western Mediterranean & Adriatic Medley from Athens to Rome.

In addition, Sky Princess will sail on a new seven-day Mediterranean roundtrip Rome voyage, combinable with a seven-day Mediterranean Barcelona to Rome for a 14-day Western Mediterranean Medley voyage calling in some of the most iconic ports in the Mediterranean Sea.

The culmination of Sky Princess' inaugural Mediterranean season will be a 14-day Spanish Passage from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale, combinable with the seven-day Mediterranean and/or the seven-day Mediterranean roundtrip Rome voyages for an epic 21-day or 28-day Grand Adventure across the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

Sky Princess Mediterranean voyages are available for booking starting December 14, 2017. Princess guests holding Elite status in the line's Captain's Circle loyalty program will have the opportunity to secure their booking a day earlier than the general public, on December 13, 2017. A reduced deposit of 10 percent is available for bookings made by August 31, 2018.

The fifth Royal-class vessel is also currently under construction at Fincantieri and will debut in 2020.